Hailing from New Orleans, the Generationals have put out two albums and an EP since the band’s 2009 debut release, Con Law. The Generationals’ homestead isn’t a typical indie-rock city, despite its major influences in history. However, that’s not to say the duo of Grant Widmer and Ted Joyner wasn’t inspired by growing up in this influential music hub.
“I think we were influenced by the city in the sense that we saw a lot of people being musicians, in the sense that we were influence by the culture of music, and the idea that people play music as their job,” Widmer says. “But the kind of musicians New Orleans is famous for isn’t the sound we were really into.”
Now, in 2013, the electronic-tinged indie rock duo, who are set to release a third album, Heza, on April 2 are also taking to the road this month, playing about 50 shows in the United States and Canada before jetting off to Europe for a few festival gigs.
In Heza, the Generationals take a slightly different approach compared to past releases, and it lends to a more cohesive album. “In the past, it seemed like we were trying to write as many singles as we could, so with this album, we just kind of trusted ourselves,” Widmer says. “There’s also some new instruments. We’ve been drifting to more electronic stuff.”
The band’s last effort, Lucky Numbers, was self-released and really honed in on the Generational’s first experiment with electronic sounds. Released in October, 2012, Lucky Numbers stands out from the crowd, as it’s highly energetic and synthetic. Lead by a bevy of synthesizer sounds, the title track “Lucky Numbers” sounds like it was ripped straight from the 1980s. Heza embraces the same styling, but tones it down for a cleaner, crisp sound. The Generationals made an effort to combine traditional sounds – finding inspiration from bands like Other Lovers and Fleetwood Mac – with modern electronic beats and poppy overtones.
The band’s name, the Generationals was inspired by the 2008 election when the term “generational issues” came up quite often, but the political theme isn’t in the band’s repartee, typically. “We’ve done events for usually progressive causes, but we don’t get specifically political, like writing protest songs or anything,” Widmer says.
The band has, however, gotten progressive with its approach to making it fairly big in terms of independent musicians. “Bands used to try really hard to get songs played on commercial radio. That trend does exist still in college radio, but by in large indie bands can’t get played on top 40 stations. It almost never happens,” Grant says.
The Generationals took the modern approach of getting its music out there by getting tracks in commercials and in television shows and movies. Having music relied to the audience in a non-traditional setting, like television or movies, makes for a whole new experience, as a listener and a musician.
“When it worked out that a couple of our songs were in the first season of Girls, I can tell you that’s a pretty cool feeling to be imbedded in a storyline of a show that you really like,” Grant says.
“We watched every episode.”
With the excitement of its newest release and an upcoming tour, the Generationals are looking forward to big things. Since being in the music industry for the past decade or so, the group has been riding the coattails of the trends. The band’s easily approachable tunes and pop-laden melodies are just plain fun. When asked his ideal tour mate, Grant has the ‘go big or go home’ attitude. “Rolling Stones. U2. We would love to do a soccer stadium tour. The bigger the better!”
